❑How much do you depend on natural ecosystems that you use for recreation (camping, fishing, hunting, hiking, swimming, boating)? 4
❑How much do you depend on natural ecosystems for the food you eat? 5
❑How important is preserving natural ecosystems to you? 5
❑How willing are you to sacrifice things in your life to make sure that natural ecosystems stay unharmed in the future? 4
Explanation:
The questions are closely related to ecosystemic services and how humans make use of it. Let us first review theoretical concepts, and then discuss the rating of the questions.
Ecosystem services refer to all the benefits that human beings can get from ecosystems, not only for survival but also for good life quality. There are four types of ecosystem services:
•Provision or supply:
These are the products obtained by nature to be used or consumed, directly or with previous processing. Among them, we might mention food, clear freshwater, fertile soils, geotic materials, raw materials (used for clothing, construction), renewable fuels, biochemical compounds, pharmacological/medicinal resources, among others.
•Regulation:
Refers to ecological processes that improve life. Among others, we might mention climate regulation, CO² absorption, water purification, air purification, erosion control, natural disaster avoidance such as flooding, soil fertility maintenance, waste recycling, pest/plague control, etc.
•Cultural:
Refers to not the material benefits. Ecosystems also provide a recreational place or area to spend time, learn, enjoy spiritual/religious space, and are a source of inspiration. It is considered to be cultural patrimony and the source of scientific knowledge.
I answered the questions from my personal point of view, and considering 5 as the most important topic, and 1 as the less important. So, from most important to less important is 5, 4, 3, 2, 1.
❑How much do you depend on natural ecosystems that you use for recreation (camping, fishing, hunting, hiking, swimming, boating)?
Probably, we as species, do not need these activities to survive. However, we need them to have good mental health. These are activities that we enjoy and that produce satisfaction. Whenever we do things that we enjoy our organism secretes hormones that make us feel happy. This feeling is important when people are stress about any personal situation. So, this question does not get the highest rate, but it gets a significant one, a 4.
❑How much do you depend on natural ecosystems for the food you eat?
Basically, we depend on nature and the ecosystem to get food and any kind of supply. If the ecosystems are damaged and altered, there is a general disbalance, and every form of life is affected. Some species might even get extinct. If we keep damaging the environment as we are doing currently, we will get to the point of not having any supply available to survive. So this is one of the most important questions, which gets the highest rate, a big 5.
❑How important is preserving natural ecosystems to you?
This question is closely related to the anterior one. It is very important for us as a species to realize that we depend on nature 100%, that we need to take care of it and preserve ecosystems all around the world. With no healthy and equilibrated ecosystems, we do not get to survive. So this is the other question that gets the highest rate, 5.
❑How willing are you to sacrifice things in your life to make sure that natural ecosystems stay unharmed in the future?
This one is kind of difficult to answer, We could say that we are 100% willing to sacrifice to make sure ecosystems stay unharmed. However, we are so used to consumption, technology, confort, an easy lifestyle, and etc, that would be really difficult for us to sacrifice everything that we are used to. Just imagine yourself giving up your cellphone or your computer. Technology is one of the most polluting industries in the world. But we depend so much on it, that seems almost impossible to imagine us without it. This is why my score for this question is a 4. Personally, I surely would sacrifice too many useful things, but I find it hard to sacrifice some others.
